everbright volunteer team joined an outdoor learning event with students of special educational needs in support of district councilor
china everbright limited (“everbright”, stock code: 165.hk) volunteer team together with a local ngo, “handson”, co-organised an outdoor learning event on 14 september, visited madame tussauds at the peak with students of special educational needs in po leung kuk anita l. l. chan (centenary) school, with the support of mr. michael yeung, district councilor of central and western district. through taking part in this outdoor learning activity, students with intellectual disabilities could learn in a fun way outside their classroom and had a chance to get along with the volunteers enhancing their communications and socialize skills. at the same time, volunteers can have more understanding of students with special needs.
during the event, the volunteers enjoyed lunch together with the students and get familiar with each other followed by attending a “behind the scene workshop”, to know more about the production procedure of wax figures. after that, they visited the madame tussauds hong kong together. the volunteers accompanied the students to visit the museum by giving some supplementary information about the wax figures of internationally renowned celebrities, as well as taking photos for them. eventually, they went to the peak tower at sky terrace enjoying the panoramic view of hong kong. the students were very excited by seeing the wax figures of their idols and celebrities, they all had an enjoyable moment during the activity.
at the debriefing session, the teachers thanked everbright’s participation and donation for the event. as resources are limited at school, this is the first-time visit of the students at madame tussauds and they had a memorable time. district councilor mr. michael yeung said he felt grateful to have participated in this volunteer activity, it did not only assist the students to learn outdoor in a relaxing way, he could also know more about the needs of the students so that he can strive more resources for them.
volunteers’ sharing after the event:
“in the week when typhoons hit, it is grateful to have such a sunny day for this volunteer event. students with special educational needs often encounter difficulties in participating in social activities, due to constraints of their social skills and public understanding towards them. led by volunteers, the meaning of the event is far beyond visiting madame tussauds and sightseeing. more importantly, students with special educational needs obtain a chance to go beyond the classroom, and into the society. ” –- eunice lee, haiyin fund
“i am so excited to have joined this event! through this event, i understand more about people with intellectual disabilities and realize that it is important to love. if you treat them in a discriminatory way, it is impossible to get along with them. but if you are willing to take the initiative to care for them, you will realize it is not that difficult to get along with them. although people with intellectual disabilities is a bit different from normal people, it doesn’t mean that they are disconnected with the society, you will even find them lovable and cute.” –- stephanie lui, hr & admin
“this is my first time to get to know the students who need special care. throughout this volunteering experience, i discovered that you really need to be very patient when communicating with them. some of them are not good at communications, so you need to guess what they mean and what they need. this is indeed a very good experience for me to understand them more. and i truly think that we need to care about these people more.” –- sherry chan, hr & admin
“it's my first time to participate in voluntary work with disable students. it's a meaningful event since a normal activity for us such as outing to the peak is a valuable experience to them based on the limitation of resources from the school. i felt warm to share the happiness with them. it's a great chance to have sharing with them and be their buddy. they can get to know the people in the society and we know more about the minority.” –-shandy tong, operations
